The Stuff of the Month - November 2025

Count Dracula and his Vampire Bride [The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)] - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 26, 1978

Although the poster for this retitling of The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) promises that 'The King of the undead marries the Queen of the Zombies" at some point, it would not be in this movie. Not that anybody would have cared, or noticed, at this point in time.

This would be Christopher Lee's final performance as Dracula for Hammer Film. Lee, when embellishing the reasons for Dracula having no dialogue in Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966), would often cite terrible lines, such as, "I am the Apocalypse!" Silly trash that the character from Stoker's novel would never have uttered, according to Lee.

The thing of it is, this line is from The Satanic Rites of Dracula. The movie that 'convinced' Lee to stop, step away, and distance himself from the role that had grown to define and shackle him.

I do enjoy this movie, though.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #9

The Fly (1986)

 

Our Trail Cam - Vol. 36

Alien Resurrection (1997) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 25, 1997

Hindsight has me questioning why I was ever excited about there being a new Alien movie. When I sat down in the (sadly no more) Century 5 Dome Theater in Pleasant Hill, I anticipated an entertaining thrill ride of a movie. That geeky anticipation was also fueled by the teaser trailer for the upcoming X-Files movie! 

Then Alien Resurrection started and the excitement just leaked out of me as the movie played out. Oh, there were things I liked, such as any scene with Brad Dourif, and... well, the Newborn was an interesting concept, but not all that well handled or introduced. I also liked seeing Dan Hedaya in a small role.

Other than that, though, I remember, round about when the swimming xenomporhs showed up, thinking, "This feels like The Poseidon Adventure meets Aliens." Now that is a mash up that should, and might, have worked, but the movie just sat there. Listless and lifeless.

The only Alien franchise entry I consider to be worse, and even less entertaining, than Resurrection is Alien Romulus.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #44

Radiant

Basking in power, Lady Death soon found that being alive was taking its own toll. Her memories and emotions of former self coalesced into their own being which haunted the mortal Lady Death to the ends of the earth.

The Jaunt by Stephen King - Review

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 24, 1976

I did not see Assault on Precinct 13 until it was broadcast, complete and uncut, on KBHK Channel 44 (Cable Channel 12) on Saturday, January 30, 1982. By that point in time, I knew (and idolized) who and what John Carpenter was. The audio cassette recording I made of that broadcast got played every bit as much as the audio cassette recordings I had made of the network television premiere of Jaws and a pay television broadcast of The Fog.

But when Assault on Precinct 13 opened in a minuscule number of theaters in November of 1976, nobody knew who John Carpenter was or what he was capable of. I do envy the people lucky enough to see this movie on the big screen. Before John Carpenter was John Carpenter.

At the Coliseum Drive-In, Assault was coupled with the action-thriller Killer Force (1976), which starred Telly Savalas and Peter Fonda and was directed by Val Guest (who had helmed The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2, The Abominable Snowman, The Day the Earth Caught Fire, and many, many more).

The Hayward Automotive and Eastmont Four had it paired with Switchblade Sisters (1975). While the Lux in Oakland had it as part of a triple feature, alongside Take A Hard Ride (1975) and something called Kung Fu Master. That latter film might be a Shaw Brothers offering better known as The Master of Kung Fu [Huang Fei Hong (1973)]. Who knows.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #8

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Here the labored gag actually syncs with the film image(s) being used for the card.

"I'm your boyfriend now Nancy..."

Although the Phone Tongue prop was only on screen for a few seconds, the grotesque image, and the defilement it represented, made for quite an effective marketing image. Nice BTS shot of the prop, too.

Parts The Clonus Horror (1979) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 21, 1979

I remember seeing, and being fascinated with, the newspaper ads for Parts The Clonus Horror, but I did not see the actual movie until it aired on the CBS Late Movie. But when would that have been? I checked a CBS Late Movie broadcast database, to see if I could pinpoint when I might have first watched Parts The Clonus Horror.

Well, it seems very likely that occurred on Friday, April 9, 1982. There was another broadcast, on Wednesday, August 11, 1982. But my dedicated CBS Late Movie viewing was relegated to Friday nights, more often than not.

There was another listing, for Friday January 15, 1982, but Stanley was airing on Creature Features that night and I remember watching it. The Hammer fantasy adventure The Lost Continent was what aired on Friday, April 9, and I know for a fact that I did not watch that on Creature Features. Because I watched it for the first time a year or so ago.

Most people today might know Parts The Clonus Horror from its appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000. That was one of the episodes I skipped, because I remembered really enjoying the movie and did not wish to see it mocked. It happens.

I checked to see what the 'co-hit' at the Granada Theatre was and it turned out to be The Legacy. An oddity that I discovered, when checking the listings, was that while this ad states that Halloween (1978) is the film's co-feature at the Serramonte Six theatre, the showtime listing says that Alien (1979) is its co-feature. So, which was it?

I think it's fun to share these weird trivial hiccups I uncover in the nooks and crannies of the rabbit holes I fall into whenever I start fact checking my jumbled and fuzzy childhood memories.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #43

Innocence Lost

When she lets her guard down, Lady Death can show a side that few have ever seen and lived to tell about. Vulnerable to only a select few, Lady Death's heart is still her own. 

The Boogey Man (1980) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 20, 1980

This cinematic turkey was the last horror film to get a substantive theatrical release in the year 1980. While it did okay as an exploitation cash grab, there was not enough creative or financial juice in the tank to launch a franchise of its very own.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #7

Vengeance: The Demon (1988)

As stoked I was to see Pumpkinhead, opening weekend on the big screen, I was somewhat dismayed by how underwhelmed I was by the creature design. I thought it looked a tad too much like a xenomorph and was nowhere near 'pumpkiny' enough for my tastes and desires. So it goes.

Still, it is terrific 'little' monster movie that I wish had done a whole lot better at that box office. It really deserved to have a larger, more appreciative theatrical audience.

But it was not to be...

Side note of trivia. This Topps card series lists the film title as Vengeance: The Demon, which I think was either its original title or a brief retitling intended to make the film easier to market. Need to do some research regarding that.

The Big Show - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 19, 1963

Five years after five days after debuting as the second-half of a double-feature with Bert I. Gordon's superior giant bug flick The Spider, the time travel thriller Terror from the Year 5,000 aired on Channel 7's pre-primetime filler program 'The Big Show'. A rerun of an episode of The Rebel followed thereafter.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #42

Maid to Order

Quickly on her way to becoming a pinup icon in her own right, Lady Death has been shown in thousands of poses and costumes. Need some help lighting your Jack-O-Lantern? 

Our Trail Cam - Vol. 35

Amityville 3-D (1983) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 18, 1983

In 1983 my dad got transferred to Hong Kong, so we pulled up roots and relocated. So I missed the American theatrical release of Amityville 3-D, but I did manage to see it on the big screen in Hong Kong, in 3-D.

I am somewhat certain that this was an occasion wherein I had read the film's novelization, written by Gordon McGill, prior to seeing it. I recognized his name from reading the novelization of The Final Conflict and its goofy tie-in novel sequel, Omen IV: Armageddon 2000. He also wrote a goofier tie-in sequel to Omen IV titled The Abomination: Omen V. I also read that, but all I remember about it is a gross leper joke.

Amityville 3-D was first film in the unconnected and scattershot franchise that fessed up to being entirely fictional. One not based on or inspired by either a real life tragedy or a fabricated huckster haunting. The movie neither bored me, nor did really impress me, either. It is just an inoffensive time waster, nothing more.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #6

Day of the Dead (1985)

The Major Cooper make-up effect in Day of the Dead was one of several that had me wondering how the hell they had managed to pull it off. The decapitation of Torres was another. Tom Savini really deserved an Academy Award nomination for his work here.

Dracula [Blood for Dracula (1974)] - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 17, 1974

Here we have a Dracula (Udo Kier) suffering the ravages of the sexual revolution. Seems that the Count can only drink the blood of virgins and, well, they are in an agonizing short supply. Considering the one-two punches of Herpes and HIV-AIDS were forthcoming, this black comedy of sexual suffering might have aged well.

I think I might revisit this one, maybe...

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #41

Which Witch

Like pop icons of decades past, Lady Death has taken her place in the pantheon of femme fatales drawn in different styles and settings by top artists. So what are you after, a trick... or a treat? 

The Spider (1958) / Terror from the Year 5000 (1958) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 14, 1958

My first ever viewing of Earth vs. The Spider provided a memorable jolt to my childhood psyche. One moment this dude is just driving along a road at night, the next his blood-spattered face is screeching in close-up. Wow. I was not expecting that.

The rest of the movie does not deliver anything close to that opening shock, but it does have a slumbering spider getting snapped out of its DDT-induced nap by a rock band's practice session... and the impromptu dance party that it has started.

Also, all the "teenagers" in this movie look to be in their mid-to-late 30s. Which is fun.

Bits and bobs sprinkled across the last 20 or so minutes of Terror from the Year 5,000 also lodged in my childhood memory as being terrifying. I guess that the image and sound of a sparkling woman lunging from the shadows and squealing like a terrified piglet was just outlandishly weird enough to give me a confused case of the willies.

Hey, I was seven or eight. What do you expect at that age, critical thinking?

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #5

"He's an ugly little spud, isn't he?"

"I think he can hear you Ray."

Now I want to watch Ghostbusters again. 

The House of Hammer - Issue 9, June 1977

Friday the 13th (1980) / Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 13, 1981

Seeing that November 13, 1981 was a Friday, there was no way that Paramount would pass on the opportunity to rake in even more cash with a double-header reissue of the first two Friday the 13th movies.

I am sure this re-release made them a fair bit of extra cash that, more the likely, helped power the green lighting of the more or less inevitable Friday the 13th Part III (1982).

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #40

Her sword a constant reminder of the paths of Chaos!, Lady Death wields it with horrible beauty, like a force of nature. If she stands guard and swears that none shall go by her, rest assured, the field will be littered with corpses by the end of the day. 

Our Trail Cam - Vol. 34

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 12, 1974

Being all of seven years old at the time of its original release, it should come as no surprise that I have zero memory of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. My introduction to the film came post Salem's Lot (1979), The Funhouse (1981), and Poltergeist (1982). 

The first time I watched it was on home video, that grainy and somewhat fuzzy looking transfer courtesy of Wizard Home Entertainment, and found the film to be every bit as unnerving and intense as its lurid title implied it would be. Although that spell was broken when my dad strolled into the living room, just as Sally Hardesty jumps through a window and gets chased across the front lawn by Leatherface, and asked me, "What the hell are you watching?"

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," I told him.

He sighed, shook his head, and muttered, "Figures it'd be Texas." Then he turned and walked out of the room.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #4

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) was almost the first Nightmare entry I saw on the big screen, but I wound up changing my mind at that last minute about seeing it. So it goes.

Brasov, Romania - Halloween 2025

The Legacy (1978) - Newspaper Ad

San Francisco Examiner - November 11, 1979

The images from the TV spots for The Legacy that stuck in my memory were of a woman discovering that she has become trapped under the water in a swimming pool and a pair of withered, skeletal hands slipping a ring onto one of Katharine Ross's fingers. That is pretty much all I remember.

It was years later that I finally saw the film and, well, the swimming pool bit, Roger Daltry choking on a chicken bone, and those withered hands clasping and forcing an evil ring onto Katharine Ross's finger are all I remember about it. Well, there was also a nun, or nurse, that might also have been a cat. I think.

Three trivia things that I do know about The Legacy. 1 - this was movie where Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott met and fell in love. They married in 1984 and are still together. 2 - the script was written by Jimmy Sangster, who I know best for all the classic Hammer movies he wrote, as well as for penning one of the best Kolchak The Night Stalker episodes: Horror in the Heights. 3 - that director Richard Marquand when on to make bigger, better movies, like Return of the Jedi and Jagged Edge.

Lady Death: Dark Alliance - Trading Card #39

Power Women

Collectively, the women of Chaos! control enough power to rip reality asunder, from the savage ferocity of Purgatori to the cunning street smarts of Chastity, these are not women to trifle with. 

Peleș Castle - Romania

Halloween (1978) - Newspaper Ad

Oakland Tribune - November 10, 1978

The holiday may have come and gone, but the first ever theatrical release of John Carpenter's Halloween was just around the corner in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here we have a handful of sneak preview screenings hoping to generate some positive word of mouth for the film's opening on Wednesday, November 15th.

Fright Flicks - Trading Card #3

Day of the Dead (1985)

The inclusion of the maligned Day of the Dead in the Fright Flicks trading card set only endeared it to me all the more, as Day is one of my all-time favorite movies. I saw it twice on the big screen and this image, which was also a Scream Greats poster in Fangoria magazine issue #48, was used as a visual guide for how to make look like Bub, the zombie with a soul, for Halloween in 1985. Great fun, that. Although taking the make-up off took a great deal of time and effort. Still it was worth it. So very worth it.

Snagov Monastery - Romania

Celebrating Halloween at Bran Castle